puppy injuries
by belle parole
Summary: He feels like something big happened last night, and there's a ball of guilt in his stomach. He tries to push it away, because he doesn't know what he'd feel guilty about, but it stays with him as he walks through the main entrance.


_for the quidditch league, holyhead harpies, seeker, write about someone getting injured_

_1444 words by google docs_

* * *

When Remus wakes up in the Shrieking Shack, the other Marauders aren't there.

He doesn't think anything of it. After all, they do have classes today. Remus figures that they left Shack to get to class on time. Remus gets dressed and walks up the passageway to the Hogwarts grounds. Figuring that his first professor this morning — McGonagall with Double Transfiguration — knows his situation and will excuse his lateness, Remus takes his time walking back to the main castle. He's already late; what difference does it make if he's even later?

Walking back, Remus thinks over the previous night. He usually doesn't remember much when he's a werewolf, but he has some fuzzy feelings from last night. He feels like something big happened last night, and there's a ball of guilt in his stomach. He tries to push it away, because he doesn't know what he'd feel guilty about, but it stays with him as he walks through the main entrance.

When he walks into class, McGonagall gives him a pass for being late, but she shoots him a confused look as if she wasn't expecting him to be in class. He doesn't know why she looks at him like that but he takes his spot nevertheless.

Remus spends the class without any of his friends, because — probably much to McGonagall's delight — none of the Marauders shared a Transfiguration class for their sixth year. After his Transfiguration class is over, Remus rushes to lunch, anxious to catch up with his friends. When he gets to the Great Hall, he scans the Gryffindor table and doesn't see them.

He takes a seat by himself for now. After all, Sirius and James are coming from Divination — a class Remus doesn't know _why_ they're taking — and Peter probably decided to catch up with them along the way, as the Charms classroom is closer to the Divination Tower than the Great Hall.

After ten minutes, his friends still don't show up. Remus taps his foot on the floor anxiously. Did they have lunchtime plans today he forgot about? He's pretty sure they didn't, as they've been careful to plan around the full moon for Remus' sake.

In recent years, Remus has become better at recovering after turning — a lot of it thanks to the Marauders — but now his stomach is churning and he's starting to feel like he did when he turned as a young kid. He hadn't realized how much he depended on the Marauders to get through his transformation. Maybe he should become more independent. He doesn't really care. He just wants to know where his friends are.

Remus knows that he should probably go to Hospital Wing if he's feeling sick, but he doesn't want to miss his friends if they decide to come to the Great Hall. Instead, he pushes his plate of spaghetti away and looks around the Gryffindor table. Maybe his friends didn't see him and are sitting somewhere else.

While looking around, he catches Marlene McKinnion's eye. She gives the same sort of confused look that McGonagall gave him, as if she's surprised to see him, and stands up to start walking over to him.

Still looking confused, she takes the seat next to him — which is empty and makes Remus aware of his lack of friends.

"Why are you here?" she asks him, sounding a little bit rude in Remus' opinion. Remus immediately feels defensive. He likes Marlene, he really does, but she's always been better friends with Sirius, not Remus. He might take it from one of his fellow Marauders, but he and Marlene are definitely not close enough friends that she can be rude to him.

"I'm eating lunch," Remus response, meeting her confused stare with a frown. "Why are _you_ here?" he asks back, trying to push conviction into his words.

At his tone, Marlene's face softens into something like pity.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that," she says. "Just, why aren't you with Sirius? I would assume they would let _you_ in."

Remus doesn't know what she's talking about. His frown deepens. "Let me in where?" he asks, his stomach still churning.

"You don't know? He's in the Hospital Wing," she answers. "He got hurt last night. It's really bad and no one's supposed to see him but they let James and Peter in, so I'm assuming they would let you in too."

Remus freezes. His stomach gives a lurch, and he's certain this sick feeling has nothing to do with his transformation.

"How was he injured?" Remus asks, gripping Marlene's arm. He couldn't stand it if —

"They wouldn't say when I went to try and visit him," she answers, and Remus squeezes his eyes shut. "Though there are rumors going around that it was a werewolf in the Forbidden Forest." There's a beat where Remus doesn't know what to do. He thinks he might throw up. He opens his eyes and his vision is blurry. "Can you please let go of my arm?" Marlene asks. "You're squeezing it quite tight."

Remus lets go, not saying anything else to Marlene.

"Are you okay, Remus?" she asks him, sounding genuinely concerned. He doesn't know what he looks like right now, but he's certain he can't look good.

Instead of answering her, Remus gets up, feeling a little bit shaky. He blinks a few times, which helps his vision clear up a little. He hears Marlene say something else at him, but he ignores her, walking straight out of the Great Hall.

His feet go on autopilot, walking him straight to the Hospital wing. Outside of the door, two people sit, and as Remus approaches he realizes that it's James and Peter.

He doesn't say anything as he reaches them, he justs slides down onto the floor and sits next to James.

After a few minutes pass, Remus forces himself to speak. "It was me, wasn't it?"

There's silence for another few moments, which Remus thinks is confirmation itself, but then any hope he had on him being wrong is crushed when James says quietly, "Yeah."

Remus thinks he might throw up, honestly, because he can't imagine having turned his best friend into a werewolf.

"He doesn't blame you," James says finally, after another stretch of silence.

"He told us himself," Peter adds, chirping up.

"He's awake?" Remus says. He remembers sleeping for a week after his own transformation, but he supposes that everyone's is different.

"Yeah," Peter replies.

"He's in pain, but he'll live," James says. Remus turns to meet James' eyes, and he expected to be met with anger. Instead, he's met with James' half-smile. "We had to tell Madam Pomfrey about being animagi, but." James shrugs, knocking Remus' foot with his own sneaker.

Remus feels both worse and better at the same time. He feels better because at least he didn't kill his friend — he doesn't know how he would live with himself if he did that — but he also feels worse because he knows from experience that living as a werewolf is only half-living.

"We can't see him," James says next. "He's awake and pissed that we can't come in, but Madam Pomfrey didn't want visitors so no one will know what attacked him and that you're…" he trails off as someone walks past the trio. "You know."

"Don't blame yourself, Remus," Peter says after a few more moments of silence.

"How can I not?" Remus asks, feeling miserable. "Because of me, my friend is a —" he looks over at James, not able to get the word out. James frowns at him. "He's —"

"He's not a werewolf, Remus," James says quietly.

It takes a few seconds for those words to sink in, but once they do, Remus feels like a huge weight has been lifted off of his shoulders.

"What?" he asks, not sure how a werewolf injury wouldn't result in Sirius turning into one as well.

James nudges Remus with his elbow, giving him a grin as Peter explains, "Our reasoning worked. We're perfectly safe from you when we're animals. Sirius was a dog when he turned, so he's okay."

Remus feels like his lungs are receiving a bought of fresh air.

Sirius isn't a werewolf. Yes, he hurt his friend, and maybe later, when Sirius is released, he'll be able to ask for the full story, but he didn't turn someone into a werewolf!

Remus leans his head onto James' shoulder, and sitting out there, leaning against the doors of the Hospital wing, he doesn't feel as bad anymore. Sirius is alive.

He celebrates that victory.


End file.
